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A video posted by the Just Stop Oil campaign group, which has
been holding protests for the last two weeks in the British
capital, showed two women throwing two tins of Heinz tomato soup
over the painting, one of five versions on display in museums
and galleries around the world.
They then glued themselves to a wall.
"There is some minor damage to the frame but the painting is
unharmed," the gallery said in a statement.
Police said both women had been arrested for criminal damage and
aggravated trespass.
"Specialist officers have now un-glued them and they have been
taken into custody at a central London police station," a
statement on Twitter said.
The National Gallery, which says it houses one of the greatest
collections of paintings in the world, said the 'Sunflowers',
which dates to 1888, was one of its most popular.
"It is the painting that is most often reproduced on cards,
posters, mugs, tea-towels and stationery. It was also the
picture that Van Gogh was most proud of," the gallery says on
its website.
Just Stop Oil said the painting has an estimated value of more
than $84 million.
The protest is the latest by the group's activists and comes
after days in which they blocked roads around parliament and
government departments to Britain halts all new oil and gas
projects.
Last Sunday, police said that more than 100 people had been
arrested after a weekend of protest-related activity by
environmental groups.
(Reporting by Michael Holden; editing by James Davey, Gareth
Jones and Andrew Heavens)
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